Midtown Makes a Difference Day returned to Franklin Street in Kingston on July 18, bringing together neighbors, nonprofits, and community leaders around the theme “United We Stand.”

“In this time in the world with so much division and confusion, I just feel that people are sad and that makes our neighborhoods feel quite divided,” Erica Brown of Radio Kingston said. “There are a lot of us who do believe in ‘United We Stand.’ And so we figured if we said it and invited a bunch of people under that umbrella, we’re all celebrating it together.”

Radio Kingston brought the music and energy, such as a DJ and karaoke, while community groups brought free goodies and hands-on activities such as face-painting, ice cream, bracelet-making, a gaming trailer, coloring, and free books from the library.

The Center for Creative Education (CCE) brought their Energy dance group for a performance in the middle of the street, in between tables representing different nonprofits and community organizations in Kingston.

Brown said the event was larger than usual, reaching the end of the street. Some organizations, like Kingston Library, were longtime participants. Sierra Bond, a street artist from Kingston, said she attended the event in the past to show her artwork but decided to participate more fully this year with a table of her own.

She displayed her paintings and left coloring pages for attendees, to “teach the younger generation that anybody can do art, anybody can be an artist.” Bond said her largest attraction is her painting featuring discarded cigarettes and blocks made out of cigarette butts.

“It teaches kids not to start smoking, not to waste your time on silly things, when this is what it’s going to look like,” she said.

Walking along the sidewalk, Bonnie O’Hara of the nonprofit Sunrays Inc. brought along one of her horses. She offers riding lessons at the Everette Hodge Community Center once a week, instilling confidence and utilizing horse therapy for Kingston youth.

“My horses, they’re therapy horses, they become ambassadors for the community. It’s just a familiar and friendly face, and believe me when I say these horses love these kids, so it creates such a nice sense of partnership, which is what our community is about,” O’Hara said.

Aside from the dancing, free goodies, and activities, Midtown Makes a Difference Day is also a way for people in Kingston to learn about the resources that the city has to offer them. Organizations such as Career in Touch, Opioid Response as County Law Enforcement (ORACLE), and the Ulster Immigrant Defense Network (UIDN) were present, as well as the Broadway Bubble, a laundromat in Kingston.

According to Jill Pacheco, the community program lead for Kingston Midtown Rising, the laundromat is subsidized by Midtown Rising and is “much more than a laundromat.” It offers community programming such as English and Spanish classes, and Bubble Empowerment and Sports Training, Mindfulness, Oneness Discipline, Entertainment (BEAST) programming that offers activities and support for youth.

Alex Ober has been volunteering with UIDN for “a couple of summers,” and recently began interpreting at their legal clinic, which offers free legal advice to community members dealing with ongoing immigration cases.

He came to Midtown Makes a Difference Day because he hopes “that people can make use of all the resources that the organizations are offering and be able to feel like they’re part of this community.”

Other organizations used the event to promote causes that impact Kingston, such as Anna Markowitz from Empower Kingston. She has been involved with the fight to bring Central Hudson into public ownership and is launching a green jobs summer training program, which she promoted at the event. Starting on July 7, she said 29 trainees will learn about solar installation and how to join green trades.

“This is really how we meet people and learn what they’re experiencing with utilities, and it gives us stories that we can share at the state level,” Markowitz said. “It also helps us to meet as many people as possible who might need jobs.”

Throughout the event, the theme of unity rang true. Mary E. Sanchez from the St. James United Methodist Church promoted the church’s food pantry and disability resource fair. According to her, “We don’t differentiate between what color, what religion, we just say, ‘Hey, come in, we want to help you.’”

Despite the event’s size, Brown said putting it together is always easy because of how many people want to participate.

“People know that folks are just here to have a good time and walk around, check out the resources, get some freebies, get the free food,” Brown said. “It just feels like a really big family barbecue.”